'Take all Covid-19 vaccine doses': Karnataka Health Minister urges people amid XE variant fear

Bengaluru: Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Monday urged people to complete their Covid-19 vaccination doses amid the outbreak of a new XE variant in some countries.

"Please ensure that all your vaccination doses are completed at the earliest," urged Sudhakar after a meeting with the Covid-19 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) amid a rise in cases of the XE variant Covid-19 in some foreign countries.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Sudhakar stated that there was an increase in XE variant Covid-19 cases in eight different countries including China, Hong Kong, South Korea, UK and Germany.

Additionally, he also stated that there was an increase in XE cases in Delhi and Haryana. "TAC has suggested thermal screening, strict surveillance, mandatory quarantine for a period of 7-10 days for passengers arriving from these eight countries. The government will soon release guidelines regarding this," said Sudhakar.

He appealed to people to wear masks, stating that the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has predicted another Covid-19 wave around June and July. The Health Minister stressed the fact that many have not completed their second dose.

"4.77 crore (98 per cent) of people under the 60 plus category have taken the second dose of Covid-19 vaccine and only 49 per cent of people have taken their precautionary dose. There already is a declined immunity in this age group. I urge everyone to please complete all doses," Sudhakar said.

"Some have blamed the government for the Covid-19 wave and shortage of vaccines in the past. Now, there is an adequate supply and we have made several requests to people to take the vaccine. People should take the vaccine and cooperate with the government," he added.

He said that among the 15-17 age group, 25,11,407 people out of 30,00,000 had taken the vaccine amounting to 79 per cent and only 65 per cent had taken the second dose.

"Among the 12-14 age group, only 13,96,000 children have received the vaccine out of 20,00,000 amounting to 69 per cent," said the Health Minister.

He urged parents to have their children vaccinated as there are no vaccines for young kids. Sudhakar said that 5000 children will be tested across the state as per the recommendation of the TAC.

Regarding the hospital overcharging, the Minister said the government would not tolerate this. "We have received complaints of some hospitals overcharging for vaccines. The government will not tolerate this," he said.

Sudhakar said that a high-level meeting has been held and the committee has been formed in this regard. The capped prices for CT scans, MRI and others must be considered as the new prices for the future and not just for Covid-19.

"All officers have been given instructions in this regard. Labs should not charge higher costs than the cap fixed by the government. If this rule is violated, the government has the right to revoke the license of the lab or hospital," he said.